Electronic devices such as, for example, mobile telephones, PDAs (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant), computers, play consoles, wristwatches or navigation devices are becoming more and more widespread. By means of network interfaces that are installed on the electronic device, a communication link can be set up between the electronic device and a communication network. Thus a computer, a notebook, a fixed net telephone, a mobile telephone, a play console or any other electronic device can have network interfaces for connection to a fixed-network-based or a mobile communication network. Such network interfaces include in particular network interfaces for connection of the electronic device to a POTS (POTS: Plain Old Telephone System) network, to an Ethernet network, to a GSM (GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications) network, to a WLAN (WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network) network or to any other network. By means of such a network interface, data can be exchanged between the electronic device and further devices via a corresponding communication network. In particular, by means of such network interfaces, a communication link can be established between the electronic device and an IP-based network (IP: Internet Protocol). For instance, the availability of e-mail messages on an e-mail server can be checked with a notebook, by means of a WLAN network interface, or, by means of a console, a game move can be transmitted to a remote play console, or the clock of a computer can be synchronized with the clock of a time server.
Electronic devices can also have network interfaces for establishing wireless local communication links, however. Thus, for example, an IrDA (Infrared Data Association) interface or a Bluetooth interface for establishing a wireless local Communication link can be installed on a PDA (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant). Such a wireless network interface of a PDA is suitable, for example, to set up a wireless local communication link to a fixed-installed computer or to a notebook. Via such a wireless local communication link data can be synchronized between the PDA and the notebook. Thus synchronized between the PDA and the notebook can be, for instance, e-mail messages between e-mail applications of the PDA and of the notebook. Of course also data of further applications, such as, for instance, of a calendar or of an address book, can be synchronized between corresponding applications of the PDA and of the notebook.
A drawback of the method used in the state of the art is that the network interface installed on an electronic device for communication with a communication network has a high energy requirement, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, requires a large device size. These disadvantages are overcome with a network interface for establishing a local communication link. However, with a network interface for establishing a local communication link, communication links can be established only to devices that are in the immediate operational range of such a network interface. Communication via usual communication networks such as, for instance, a WLAN network, a GSM network or a UMTS network is not possible with such a network interface for establishing a local communication link.
Another drawback of the state of the art results from the great dispersion of electronic devices. Thus users often have a plurality of electronic devices, such as, for example, a first electronic device with a WLAN network interface, such as e.g. a PDA, and a second electronic device with a GSM network interface, such as e.g. a mobile telephone. With the second electronic device with the GSM network interface at a location where both a WLAN network and a GSM network would be available, a user can only use the GSM network. If, however, the user would like to transmit a large data file, such as a video data file, to the second electronic device, the user cannot make use of the faster WLAN network even though such a network would be available at the current location of the user.
A further drawback of the state of the art is that a user, who has a plurality of electronic devices, i.e. as just described, a first electronic device with a WLAN network interface and a second electronic device with a GSM network interface, can lose the access to a network for certain of the electronic devices during a change of location. If the user moves out of the operational range of a WLAN hotspot, for example, the user can completely lose the possibility of network access for the first electronic device with the WLAN network interface. This despite the fact that at the current location of the user a—although somewhat slower—GSM network would still be available.